jts-khorat

I remember more than one burning season in Phuket, when -- depending on wind direction -- visibility was less than 50 meters for days. All the pollution coming from quite far-away Indonesia, in that case it was burn agriculture to create palm oil farms. One might only imagine how much forest was and is lost every year through those practices. However, the issue is not that there are not enough laws against it in Thailand. It is, as so many times, an issue of education. As somebody else mentioned, in Isaan (and I guess many other places in Thailand) it is the most natural thing for people to burn any kind of rubbish just behind their own house or for farmers to clear their fields. The latter I actually understand, especially for small farmers without much mechanization: I have stood in front of large sugarcane fields with nothing but a machete in hand to clear out the razor-sharp, dried lower leaves all by hand to give the stalks light and room to grow. Not a fun job at all -- especially when many gruelling hours of work can be simply replaced by a lighted match. And, of course, I did it as an experience, not as a daily lifestyle, so I would never begrudge any of these farmers to work with the solutions they have available. Those who do should think why sugar cane is even planted here, when they put the next spoonful of white stuff in their morning coffee.

Solved nicely and properly, the way things should be. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do!" I will never understand, why many foreigners, who are supposedly coming here for the "freer" life, then stress endlessly about little things like this. I already calculate such costs into my overall cost for a happy stay, without hassle or worry. And those situations that stress me out personally -- double pricing at National parls is my pet peeve -- my wife handles them out of my sight. As it is also "her" money, she fights like a lion for it, so when double pricing really happens, I am sure that nothing would have prevented it otherwise. Also, living upcountry, it really helps to integrate oneself in the local village (speaking Isaan and Thai does not hurt here, too). Whenever I come, the village head and his bunch of friends are of course invited first afternoon to the big family feast and I have besides the Lao Kao a bottle of not expensive but obviously foreign whisky. He and his friends sip a glass in front of everybody, which seemingly gives them big prestige, then they are quietly moving on to the Lao Kao which they all much prefer in reality. This tradition lives now for a good number of years. For such little effort on my side, the village head has then been at all times I needed him at the Amphur or talked to immigration when they visited the village. What I see here is "Farang think too mutt", even from supposedly old hands in Thailand.

Indeed. And five very high ranking officers had to be transferred.

I read the article. Did you? I tell you what I read: Officials of a government agency belonging to the Ministry of Interior -- not the Phuket or Patong police! -- raiding a place, then telling a newspaper that there were underage girls at a hotel, supposedly belonging to a bar, while the ever-present Patong police never noticed a thing. I bet they would be as baffled as the rest of the outraged world, if the reporter would have gone to the trouble to ask them, which he did not for some reason. The local newspaper -- surely in need of existing in a happy medium between the powers of the land and journalistic truth, as they all are -- is then going on speculating happily about the likely most insignificant of the partners in the company behind it, somehow overlooking how it can even be possible that a bar as visible as that one can be without any "license" for many months, or that companies in Thailand must have a majority Thai-owned share structure -- and this is especially true for these kinds of businesses, and even more so for these kinds of businesses in Patong (at least if they make money). You can bet, if a foreigner alone would open a bar in Soi Seadragon, epicenter of the money-making, not having a license and everything squeaky-clean from the first day on, he would be told on by his competitors immediately. Such a situation is really impossible to exist. We are in Thailand here, for me it is not very difficult to see that some things do not add up at all. But most, you seemingly included, are happily going for the headline alone, never even questioning what the article is so very obviously not telling and how it is describing to us the few details it actually provides. A teenage girl is a victim in this situation, as I said, this is most reprehensible. But my outrage is about the powers in the shadow making this situation happening and gaining handsomely by it, completely untouched -- or even untouchable -- by law. As I said, I would bet money that this place will not stay closed for long at all.

If indeed there was a 15 year old girl working there, that would be reprehensible. There are laws against it, which should be followed. The main emphasis of the article, that this bar was operating "unlicensed" for several months even though it is one of the most visible in Soi Seadragon, and the supposition that the secret shareholder is a foreigner (which still would mean that he must have majority Thai shareholders, unmentioned), all this directly under the nose of the police and that it was a different agency which had to do the raid... I would not want to say that there were no underage girls there, but the whole circumstances leave me in some doubt. At a minimum, I am very sure that the information in this article contains some serious holes. Holes, that to my opinion are much worse than underage girls, bad as that is by itself, because they create the exact circumstances that make this possible without the need to have a care about the law. I would be very surprised to see if this same place is not open within the next few days, with pretty much the same employees as before (minus the underage girl and maybe with a different sign outside).

This bar, which so surprisingly has been found to be illegal and unlicensed, is prominently featured in a really well-known Youtube-Channel during his rounds through Soi Bangla, at least for the last six months (Nine Media Thailand). I am sure it can be found in lots of other Youtube-Channels. It would be really, really difficult to overlook it by just casually strolling up Soi Seadragon: it is on the ground floor, advertised by neon lighting, a gigantic sign already visible from the main road, and girls trying to usher you in quite aggressively. The girls all sit outside or dance inside on the stage, clearly visible at all times from the road. There is absolutely nothing hidden going on here at all. Yuki, named in the article, was not shy to be mentioned by name in those videos and quite proudly presented the other employees openly there. Soi Bangla and Soi Seadragon has a visible, daily police presence, with regular patrols happening. I am sure all officers are schooled in identifying illegal prostitution and especially underage girls and would not hesitate a second to stop such illegal acticity, whenever and wherever they would have possibly encountered it during all those previous months. Putting all this info together, I invite everybody to come to their own conclusions what really is happening here.

Many insurance companies in Thailand know full well, that a large percentage of visa holders have a much better insurance policy than they could possibly offer. However, as a government-approved insurance is compulsary for some visa types, very cleverly they offer a construct like this, to make the insurance as cheap as possible to gain those customers. Everybody understands, that this insurance is for all practical purposes useless -- but the right box has been checked.

Thank you, Sheryl, for your calm and fact-based approach to the many health issues coming up in this forum. Very often one looses perspective when discussing, as many (me included) naturally tend to bring forward a more pessimistic view. TB is a really big problem in Thailand, especially in the rural areas. In truth, there have been also good outcomes which I witnessed, some of them (a neighbor and very good friend of my wife being one example) bordering on the miraculous for the non-health-professional outsider. I am sure in a major hospital in Bangkok, they will have a very good handle on necessary clinical procedures, so one can hope for the best. In the case of the OP, being friend to a person who seems -- from the very little information we have -- to currently be in a rather disorganized state of his life (no work, no money, no insurance, no family back in the west able to help and possibly also no Thai family here), I still think it prudent to be prepared for a situation where things should be in order... if only for his own peace of mind and closure, having done everything that could be done. If things then turn out to be less grim, all the better, as his friend will then have this preparation ready in case of the next health emergency.

Not to derail this thread, but I had numerous friends of older age while living here in Thailand, stating something along those lines. Not a single one was able to overcome their innate instinct to prolong their life as long as possible, against all common sense (when seen from the outside). They all died in a hospital accordingly, instead of being home within a circle of their loved ones. My experience, with rural hospitals at least, is that they are quite willing to release patients back home where further care would clearly not prevent death, or switch off machinery to prevent mounting costs. On the other hand, something like proper palliative care is unknown there and this responsibility falls naturally back on the family. It is not a bad system, to my mind. I am sure, things in Bangkok are different, with proper care options in place, if one can afford it. In this case, this might not be an option, so if recovery is not a likely option, this man will need to think about a lot more than just the paying of bills. With modern telecommunications, family does not necessarily need to travel to be there. What about his circle of Thai aquaintances -- if he lived here for 20 years, he surely will have them? As you mentioned, your friend is still conscious, and the diagnosis sounds still optimistic ("He's now stable, on a ventilator and positive for Pneumonia which is being treated." ... "today the specialist said he will likely be in ICU for at least 10 more days"). Still, as a friend, it would be wise to enquire about his thoughts on these issues, as a turn for the worse can be coming quite abrupt. In the case of my friends in similar situations, some of them were so convinced that they would pull through -- or maybe in such a panic about the rapidly worsening circumstances -- that some had not even started to think about the necessary preparation for their loved ones. Believe me, it can be a mess if the list of adresses of friends and family to contact and all your banking options are on a laptop, where you have not told the password to anybody, even though you were in hospital for two weeks... Lastly, I too would like to commend you that you are sticking with your friend, in his worst and lowest moments, with nowhere to turn for help. This is what friendship is for: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". @jimmiejackson I would be happy to count you to my friends.

As I said, I have stopped strict keto after a year, as it was not necessayr any more. I had lost my weight, my blood values have become much better, my sleep has improved, etc. I am now eating a balanced diet of mainly vegetables and meat, with only small amounts of rice. I have reduced fruit intake to mainly berries from the garden, when they are in season (fructose can only be processed in the liver, so I do not eat too much fruit). Every now and then I partake in cake, cookies, chocolate, etc (especially now around Christmas). I try to make sure to be more strict with my intermittent fasting afterwards, fasting a few hours extra for a day or two. I really avoid fast food and ultra-processed food as good as I possibly can. Obviously no sugared drinks either. All in all, I guess this is the normal diet that anybody should have, without excess and without too much restriction. I do not think I would be able to be healthy on this diet, though, without my body having been brought back into a state of appropriate healthiness.

I cut out everything. Frankly, cutting out the rice was the most difficult, as my wife was and is having rice for every single meal (she is Thai, no surprises there). However, my main driver was getting rid of pre-diabetic symptoms like the constant fatigue and de-fatting my liver, and knowing the diabetes statistics for Thailand on their diet of polished white rice, I felt it better to not take chances. As I conquered food cravings this way completely, for any kind of food, I felt I am on the right way. I would have thought anew about it, had my body developed cravings for specific kinds of food, after having tested this approach for three months.

I started with the Intermittent fasting first. Over a month I saw no result, due to the horrible sugar cravings I had constantly, leading to binge eating episodes like I never had them before. After researching, mainly to better my pre-diabetes (I think the videos on Youtube of Dr. Sten Ekberg and Dr. Berg have been mentioned on here already), I reduced carb intake radically. This was a lot less comfortable for me, as I love my pizza and chocolate as much as the next guy. However, amazingly, food cravings during fasting went away completely within a little more than a week and they have not come back after re-introducing limited carbs into my diet after a year of keto. Also I started to drop weight almost immediately, while feeling more active at the same time, meaning that my life quality increased; so far, another year later, there has been no jojo-effect either (I managed to shed around 15 kg in my keto year and feel much, much better on this weight now). Of course, every body might react differently, but this was my experience. Might "just" doing intermittent fasting be enough for you? With regard to the red meat: I ate a lot of fish and chicken, but I like both. Living in Germany, I basically had no beef, as that would be a price point well beyond me, but my research showed that there would be indeed a difference between grass fed beef and grain fed one. As you seem to live in Australia, that should be much less of an issue for you. In the end, it will not hurt much to experiment with different options for a period of time and see, what brings results for you.

Not always does life follow the initial plan. If it would, I would be sitting in my pool villa jacuzzi overlooking a nice beach, right now. What I would never do is begrudge somebody a silent, peaceful existence somewhere, presumably still contributing to the well-being of his family or community in whatever limited manner, simply by being there. As Thailand has little social services this guy could possibly leach off, who could he even harm? I might take a different stance, if this person would be an underworld baron living off his ill-gotten riches, or some other kind of serious criminal. But then we would likely not be talking about a guy in some village in Isaan, no?

The problem with Western diet is, that lots of stuff is mixed together, which better should not be. This leads to statements as these, which are confusing at best, leading you into a whole wrong direction at worst. The biggest issue in modern society is, that most people are pre-diabetic, due to massive amounts of processed carbs being consumed. The body is basically in constant emergency mode, trying to keep a stable insulin level. Add then a diet abundant in salted meat, often also heavily processed, and you create a recipe (literally) for disaster. On top of that, we are under constant stress, with often bad sleeping habits, which tends to increase bad cholesterol with all its own side effects. Untangling this is really difficult, but you have to start somewhere, and -- in my opinion -- the best way is to cut your carb intake. I had great success following a pretty harsh keto diet for a year, together with intermittent fasting, to loose a large part of my excess weight and de-stress my body overall: and it worked! Nowadays, I am back to a more normal diet, cake, pizza and pasta are back on the menu, albeit a lot less than before. And I am still doing intermittent fasting and take care of consuming everything in a balance and without the excesses of previous times (which has become a lot easier, as the impossible food and sugar cravings have also simply gone). In the end, this is what my doctor told me: if you want to heal naturally and sustainably, there are no quick fixes, especially if it took years or even decades of improper food intake to create the situation in the first place (so a definite 'No' to statins). But in the end it is more than worth it.

This was way before the dawn of Viagra, so I can deduce that this would be unlikely. The placebo effect... maybe (but I doubt it, he was mixing in lots of herbal stuff in his concoction to be consumed right there, and the effect was going on for days -- not that I really needed it in those golden days of my youth ????).

I tried that once as I was very new in Thailand, 1998 in Hat Yai. Sadly I was never able to find that Chinese backyard shop again, to ask what they mixed in with the cobra blood and gall. I can only say: it worked, to the point of taking days to recede.

The problem with Padang Besar is, that it is a really bleak place, not really worth spending much time in (of course this is only my opinion). I guess people going there do this because they have either no money or no time to spend in Malaysia in the first place. Else, Padang Besar has of course a railway connection to get from there to other places in Malaysia, where spending time might be more worthwile -- but then maybe only 2 to 3 nights will not cut it.

Who nowadays actually listens to radio stations?! Of course, this story is in essence inflammatory, click-bait, but then again: who nowadays reads newspapers?! In the end, I try to insulate myself from the daily craziness out there by simply deciding to not myself be incensed by such a moronic story. I am sure it will add ten years to my life due to the avoidance of stress.

Maybe he is happy with a simple life in Isaan. Millions of Thais are.

It is indeed. But you misunderstand Theravada buddhism, obviously. The onus is on you, the individual, how you live your life. You have the active choice to collect either good or bad karma, and there is no big man in the sky removing the bad one later or giving you a pass through the door for 'repenting'. As such, Buddhism -- in its ideal form -- promotes self-responsibility. However, at the same time the Buddha recognized that most people are likely to fail to achieve the highest standard, at least within a single life time, so it also promotes equanimity and the acceptance for people behaving differently from the ideal, without accruing the shame of 'guilt'. Make out of that what you wish, but the reality of Thailand is, that it exists between those two opposite poles.

How long have you been in Thailand? Abortion here actually happens fairly often, I know multiple women who had one -- due to it being illegal at great personal risk to their health, as getting an abortion performed by a knowledgeable medical professional becomes even more of a lucky draw scenario than usual. For those who are against abortion, they would have to have been for reducing the main reason for it: namely the social inequality of girls in Thai society. We in the West overdo this in my opinion already in some instances, but in Thailand I have seen it happen so, so many times, that a girl had to change schools after getting pregnant, due to the shame, while the boy just went on with his previous life.